Archives for October 30, 2006

‘Goaltender Ryan Miller talked about the change since the team’s springtime run to the Eastern Conference Final. He says that he is recognized around town because he’s the only “skinny guy with long hair” on the team and easy to spot. But self-effacing commentary aside, Miller was very thoughtful and insightful when commenting on the buzz in the community. He welcomes all of the trappings because he feels an increased sense of passing the game on to another generation…

'The Buffalo Sabres can put their early-season unbeaten fairy tale behind them now. Instead of worrying about setting records and such, the club can focus on winning enough games to put them in the best position come spring.'

“Don’t be fooled. On a Rochester team that started 7-0 and that features some of the best young prospects in hockey, Paille deserves to raise his hand in a “don’t forget about me as an up-and-comer” gesture.”

'"Hey, we got 21 of a possible 22 points in October," stressed Jason Pominville, who had one of Sabres' four come-from-behind goals and two assists. That's a bit like George W. Bush's victory speech a few months into the Iraq war.'

‘But if the Sabres suffer another injury on defense, they have only three rookies to choose from in Rochester (Mike Funk, Mike Card and injured Andrej Sekera). Amerks captain Brandon Smith is their property, but they have never considered him to be a player on their NHL roster. “Ideally you’d like 12 defensemen who could all play in the NHL,” general manager Darcy Regier said…”But you make decisions based on how much room you have in the minors, and in our case there’s not a lot of room, and on the salary cap.”‘

‘”Scotty Arniel, the coach in Manitoba, had him in Buffalo the last few years and he told us Taylor could go anywhere from being on the top line to the fourth line,” Vigneault explained. “He had the potential to be a top-line player but, for whatever reason, it didn’t come out in Buffalo. Scotty told us he had great size but that he didn’t always use it.”‘